Rain all over my face, T-shirt and shorts. This was the state I arrived in a lovely and spacious hostel in Shenzhen. But my inner state is full of exhilarating excitement and inspiration. Why? It's the first day of the bike tour from Hong Kong to France. If you haven't checked my map already, perhaps you may just think I cycled in HK, take a plane and cycle in France. Nope, if you do it already, do it the hard way. Cycle through Asia and Europe to arrive in France is the goal of my girlfriend and me.
After the boring stuff such as sending clothes back to France and going for some errands, Mathilde and I were finally on the road. The first step was to mount all our gears on our bikes. This was easier said than done. But at the end we finished it just before the ferry leaves from Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island, for the nearby Hong Kong Island.
After about 30 minutes we arrived at Central Pier 4, headed towards Central Pier 7 which operated a ferry to take us to Kowloon, the mainland part of Hong Kong which directly connects with China. Well, the ferry men told us that we had to go to the Wan Chai Ferry Pier because only their ferry took on bikes for which we had to pay 40 HKD per bike extra. Turned out that the merely 30 minutes walking distance between these two places took us more than an hour because you could not cycle along the pier. The traffic was jammed for a while and it was hard to find the correct way because Hong Kong's roads were built for cars and not cyclists.
It was not of great help that a local blocked us on our way saying we should cycle on the road and not the pedestrian walk. We looked at him perplexed because the road was a one way street facing directly opposite to us. He was extremely rude and left a remark of xenophobia. Another reason to leave Hong Kong, a place with little compassion, happiness nor friendly people. We decided to leave as soon as we discovered that we were changing too due to our environment. My theory has always been that you cannot escape your environment. You are almost 100%ly shaped by it. We couldn't change our environment, so we needed to leave it for a better one.
After another shorter ferry ride, we arrived at the Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Shah Shui, Kowloon. We were very happy and energised. This is how we looked like.
A great journey was about to begin and we felt that our flesh and bones were energised to a level of ecstasy. Finally, all the boredom and frustrations of living in Hong Kong is at an end. No more greedy landlords and their 5 intermediaries looking into your purse, narrow streets through which you literally have to press yourself into just so you can walk, no more stone faces that never changes when you smile at them or greet them. Finally, some fresh air, new experiences to look forward to. Finally, freedom.
I kind of expected a last blow of unpleasantness from Hong Kong and here it was. When you put your bike on the metro, you have to take off the front wheel. Why?! What's the reason that you would allow bikes to be on the metro but demand that passengers take off the front wheel? Does it make the bike less dangerous to others? Please comment here if you have any conjecture. I am really curious as to the real reason behind that law.
We cycled from the Star Ferry Pier to Hung Hom Station, where we could have died like 50 times, riding on highways, being squashed together by buses etc. Having arrived at the station, we took the East Rail Line for about 50 minutes and arrived at Lok Ma Chau Station. From there onwards, everything became totally chilled. It was like to rush out of a hot sauna and dive into a huge bucket full of ice. So sudden was the change in general mood in the air that both Mathilde and I were instantly relieved. The station master allowed us to put on our wheels and push the bikes through immigration. They called places where you can pass from one country to another checkpoints. As usual, the Hong Kong - China checkpoint at Lok Ma Chau comprised of the immigration of Hong Kong through which we passed very quickly because we had the Working Holiday Visa there, and the Chinese immigration. In between, it was like walking through some resort of demilitarised zone. I wonder how it must have felt like if we were to walk or cycle through the demilitarised zone of Korea. If we came out alive, we would be heroes.
Finally, we passed the immigration and arrived in Shenzhen, China. I immediately took up the task of finding ATMs to withdraw some Chinese Yuan (CNY). Turned out that the China Construction Bank's ATMs did not accept my Revolut Premium MasterCard. If they did not accept Revolut, then any other Visa or MasterCard from outside of China would most likely not work neither. Revolut Premium is really a must for all long distance world travellers. It simply works in most of the Asian countries I personally visited in the past year, including South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and now China.
There was pouring rain, it was raining like Tom and Jerry - I am tired of the usual idiom, why not using Disney's legacy for once without paying for the licence - we cycled through that rain to get to the hostel where I am now, writing on the couch area, here.
The hostel is called Dengba Hostel Shenzhen, Convention Center Branch. This is how their sign looks like from the reception.
They even have three massage chairs!!! I am an absolute fan of those.
They also feature a pool table right next to the entrance.
They offer guests space, a lot of space. I mean, look at it.
It's like a dance floor. Maybe it turns into a night club after the guests sleep. That would be amazing.
There is so much more to tell from this hostel. Stay tuned for my next post which features exclusively this amazing hostel in Shenzhen.